SUPP, the Sarawak Chinese-based party in the BN, has admitted that it will have to look beyond its traditional Chinese vote bank for support in this election.

Party vice-president and Dudong candidate Tiong Thai Khing said  SUPP would have to rely more on the Dayak community for votes.

The term 'Dayak' applies loosely to the bumiputera sub-ethnic groups of Borneo. In Sarawak, they include the Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and Kelabit.

NONE "Based on records, Dayak support for SUPP is on the increase. The Chinese don't care if the opposition is doing its job or not, they'll just support," Tiong (left) said at a function in Sibu yesterday.

Tiong dished out cash to the Dayak community at the event.

The 192 longhouses in the Lanang constituency saw each family getting RM100, with some getting even more if needed for 'development'.

Asked about this, Tiong said the money was from an annual allocation given by the federal government.

SUPP, the second largest BN party in Sarawak, has come a long way from its anti-establishment and communist roots since its formation in 1959.

The party has solidified its position in the state government, especially after its president George Chan married off his daughter to Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's son.

However, in Dudong - a state seat in the Lanang parliamentary constituency still considered to be in the greater part of Sibu - SUPP's influence is eroding fast.

In 2006, state DAP chief Wong Ho Leng won Bukit Assek , the other state seat in Lanang, with a 4,751-vote majority.

At the last count, Dudong's 21,819 voters were made up of 53.2 percent Chinese, Iban (36.9 percent), Melanau (9.8 percent) and the remaining being others.

Bukit Assek has a whopping 94.9 percent of Chinese voters out of a total of 26,002 voters.

Trouble in SUPP

Tiong's candidacy did not exactly go smoothly with SUPP leaders when he replaced popular incumbent Dr Soon Choon Teck, who had been the Dudong assemblyperson since 1991.

It is an open secret that Soon and Tiong have frequently been at odds with each other in the run-up to the state election.

Soon claimed that Tiong had told him that he was not interested in the Dudong seat but had also announced that he was considering the request to stand there, which came from the party president.

Things heated up quickly with an advertisement in support of Soon, taken in a local Chinese daily by a group of unnamed people.

Just last month, leaflets were circulated in the constituency, purportedly by Soon's supporters, demanding that the party retains him as candidate him. Mega-rallies and dinners were organised in his support.

Soon has also been a vocal critic within the party and this resulted in him announcing his resignation in January 2009 as its assistant publicity secretary, a post he had held since 1991.

Tiong - brother of logging and media tycoon Tiong Hiew King - was definitely in a wary mood as a result of widespread talk of possible 'sabotage' attempts by Soon's camp.

"I believe he won't (sabotage). Well, I hope he will not.

"I didn’t ask to be fielded, but BN wanted me. Maybe it's because this is a 'grey area'," he said, referring to the 50-50 odds of winning the seat.

Despite being the Lanang MP, Tiong played the underdog card, saying he does not believe victory is in the bag.

"But let the voters decide," he said.

Soon was reported to have gone back to his clinic in Sibu, where he is a general practitioner, and has given his blessings to Tiong as far as this election is concerned.

Curse of Bukit Assek

Meanwhile, Bukit Assek will see an uphill fight with Wong Ho Leng defending his seat against newcomer Chieng Buong Toon from SUPP.

Chi NONE eng, who was at the function together with Tiong, is banking on the ‘pendulum’ curse said by some to be prevalent in the state constituency.

"No assemblyperson can defend the seat for more than one term in Bukit Assek. This shows that the voters like to give a chance to new faces," he said, adding that he was confident that his service as local councillor for two terms would help his campaign.

But Wong (left) , met after a DAP function later in the day, said he does not believe in the ‘curse’.

"Chieng can claim that he has served for two years, but that is his job anyway. It's no big deal," said Wong.